


Fire and Ice

by theragingstorm



Category: Frozen (2013)
Genre: Backstory, F/M, Family, Kristoff just needed a backstory, Love, but it became more than that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-16
Updated: 2015-03-16
Packaged: 2018-03-18 04:37:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3556277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theragingstorm/pseuds/theragingstorm
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A somewhat introspective look at the Bjorgman family, and their relationship with the ice--and with love. </p><p>(AKA a very expanded Kristoff backstory.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fire and Ice

**Author's Note:**

> The song that Aksel sings can be found here: http://ingeb.org/songs/viskalik.html

_"Some say the world will end in fire,_

_Some say in ice._

_From what I’ve tasted of desire_

_I hold with those who favor fire._

_But if it had to perish twice,_

_I think I know enough of hate_

_To say that for destruction ice_

_Is also great_

_And would suffice."_

_\--Robert Frost_

 

***

 

Aksel Bjorgman wiped his brow on the back of his mitten and swung his ax at the frozen lake again. The rhythmic striking of metal on ice rang out across the mountains in sync with all the other mens' axes:

_Clang!_

_Clang!_

_Clang!_

To Aksel, it was music. The other mens' jaunty mountain airs were unnecessary when you already had the ice, ringing out clear and sweet to serenade you.

The Bjorgmans had loved the ice for as long as the family could remember. They were a family of harvesters, of mountain men, who belonged out in the open air with a sharp cold wind against their backs.

Aksel could remember when he was just a boy, when his own father would talk to him about their family's obsession with it:

"Now listen to me, boy," Halvard would say, placing the undersized pick in his son's hand. "Protest now all you want. Say you don't want to be a man of the ice. But it calls to you, boy. Can't you feel it? It promises the life of a real man, of a man who works and earns the rewards of every drop of sweat on your brow. Better any day than a mush-mouth who stays home and cowers behind a wall of sweaters and furs. Cold doesn't bother us, boy. Because we're the ones strong enough to realize that it shouldn't bother _anyone._ "

Aksel plied another chunk of ice out of the lake.

His mother had not loved the cold as much as his father. The poor woman had been born and raised in a warmer place, and had insisted that the fire be built up, up during her labor. She'd ignored the midwife's protests, and caught a fever barely hours after her son was delivered.

Halvard never even told Aksel what his mother's name had been, and Aksel didn't mind. Both men knew why: she hadn't been strong enough to face the cold, and that was why she wasn't still with them.

Aksel hoisted the last of his load onto his small sled before picking up his horse's reins.

"I am still not over the fact that you idiot Bjorgmans use horses for pulling your sleds. I mean really, you might as well be American."

"Get with the times, Leif," Aksel grumbled, tapping his reins against his stallion's wide back. "Nobody except the Sami use reindeer anymore."

"News flash, Aksel: I _am_ Sami, and your family was too. At least until you became traitors to your own traditions."

Aksel flicked the reins again and gritted his teeth. Leif Nordfjell had to be the bane of his existence. Insufferably cheerful, incredibly annoying, and the only thing he did that was _worse_ than all that was...

"Speaking of reindeers, Eva is now officially able to drive the herd better than Father. Maybe if you started courting her like I suggested that one time--"

" _That one time?_ "

"--you could learn a thing or two about such noble and majestic beasts," Leif finished blithely.

Without responding again, Aksel promptly turned his sled away and took the other route down towards Arendelle.

"When the two of you get married, you'll thank me!" Leif hollered after him, not daunted by the other man not paying attention.

Aksel knew perfectly well that this route was longer and cut directly through a rocky valley, which meant that it was rarely used by the other harvesters. Which was exactly why he knew to use it.

Aksel drove carefully around the huge boulders and heads of steam, feeling unusually hot. Was it his imagination, or was it warmer in this little valley than it was outside it?

He chuckled nervously to himself and pulled the stallion to a halt just long enough to pull off his vest, hat, and mittens. Then he carried on his way like nothing had happened and continued down towards the city.

Arendelle seemed to be in order. The crisp slight chill of early fall hung in the air, but otherwise the city was just as it always was: clean, noisy, crowded with nosy citizens gossiping with each other and letting their children act like little demons. Which was why Aksel had always made a point to sell his ice as quickly as possible and then immediately head back to the house outside town where his father would be waiting.

He set up his stall, and let his stallion bend its neck to nibble some grass. For a moment, he himself was able to sit back and relax.

At least until his customers started arriving.

"Oh sweet Saint Lucia, you're back! All the other mens' ice is priced so horrendously, and you know Papa's money only goes so far."

"Can you watch our niece for a second? We'll be busy buying; and she's _so_ unladylike. Maria! Get back here!"

"Did you hear my daughter's child is to be born? With that arse-licker of a woodcutter! I oughta--"

"King Agdar's betrothed is coming here next week! A princess of Corona, no less!"

Aksel exchanged goods with them with noncommittal grunts and monosyllabic answers. His customers all walked away satisfied with their bargains; but not with their innate need for conversation.

When it seemed like they were all finally gone, his mood visibly lightened. Almost cheerfully, he began to pack up his sled to leave.

"Aksel Bjorgman! Aksel Bjorgman, I know you can hear me!"

_Oh gods, no._

She seemed to blaze forward, her honey-blond hair catching the late-afternoon sun, her lake-colored eyes alight. She had a proud kind of beauty to her, even with the scar on her left cheekbone and rough calloused hands, but Aksel would rather face down an avalanche any day.

Luckily, despite what Leif was always saying, they didn't see each other very often. But when they did...

Eva seized him around the neck, pushing him forward. She pinned him back against his sled with a _bang!_ that rattled his teeth.

Several other men stopped to laugh or yell comments.

"Watch your place woman!"

"Go back to your stove where you belong!"

"No wonder no one wants to marry you!"

"Oh yes, because a man's approval is all I want in life," Eva shouted, sarcasm dripping off every syllable. "Do all the strumpets you're seeing a favor and entertain yourselves with your hands tonight instead."

The men shouted crude suggestions back at her, before slinking off in a huff. Meanwhile, Aksel scowled down her arm at her.

"How does an unmarried virgin know about that?"

"The unmarried virgin knows more than you think." She tossed her hair over one shoulder, before glaring even more piercingly at him. "But that's not why I'm here. I'm angry at you."

"Never would've guessed it."

"Why in the name of Hel would you insult my family's job, my family's _life?_ "

Aksel gaped at her like a fish.

"You know what I mean! You told my brother that reindeer farming was only for dirty peasants. Well, Mr. High and Mighty, I don't see any of your blood sitting in that castle either."

"Wait a minute. Did Leif tell you I said that?"

"Of course he did!"

"Why would...oh of course." Aksel groaned. "So this could happen."

"Oh, what are you blathering about?"

"Apparently, your brother thinks that fighting and yelling is romantic."

That was enough for Eva to let go of his neck. Aksel reflected that at least her furious expression wasn't directed at him anymore.

"I am going to _kill_ Leif."

"Trust me, I feel that way a lot too."

"At least you don't have to live with him."

"True."

Eva and Aksel sat down next to each other beside his sled.

"Don't think of this as a friendly gesture, Bjorgman. I still don't like you."

"Don't worry."

 

Winter had come and gone, taking the end of the ice-harvesting season with it. Aksel was relieved to have an excuse to begin his hard work again, to somehow get that woman off his mind.

She still claimed not to like him, of course.

"I don't like you, Bjorgman."

"I will never like you."

"No wonder I don't like you."

"I think that I will never like you even if you do manage to wash occasionally."

"Of course I don't like you, Aksel. What kind of silly waif do you think I am?" Her smile had its usual dry cadence, but there was a little bit of warmth in there too.

Just thinking about it made him pause...just long enough to throw him off-rhythm.

_Cl-clang!_

Aksel cursed and righted himself. She was only a woman. She had to come after the call of the cold and ice. She had to.

"Move along, Bjorgman! Sun's heading down, we better get back!"

Aksel nodded mutely. It was the day before the spring festival, after all. An obscene amount of food would be eaten the next day, and all of it needed to be kept cool beforehand.

He went back silently with the other men, sold the sled's huge load of ice, and drove his way back to his father's house.

Halvard barely glanced up from the mug of ale as his son walked in. "You back then, boy? Got enough money for the next week?"

"Pretty sure." Aksel jangled his pockets full of _speciedaler._

"Good." Halvard took another swig of ale before giving his son a hard look. "Considering how you've been acting like a shit-brained fool lately, I'm amazed the other men haven't pushed you off a glacier yet."

Aksel gulped nervously. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You've been mooning about like a silly teenaged girl. I know you have something on your mind, boy. And it ain't the ice."

"Father, she's just a woman."

"Exactly. She's weak. She won't be able to live up to the kind of lifestyle we Bjorgman men live. I'll see you forget your womanish ideas of love, and live that lifestyle."

Aksel sighed. "Yes Father."

He slept uneasily that night, his dreams punctuated by cracking glaciers, waterfalls of melted snow, broken chunks of icicles, with a pair of burning blue eyes seemingly always behind it.

His thoughts didn't go away the next morning. But when he and Halvard awoke just after dawn, both of them could already hear the laughter and music all the way from Arendelle. It was time to go to the market, before more citizens arrived and the festival got too crowded.

Aksel woke and fed his stallion before riding off to the city. Arendelle was wide awake, and all aflutter. The market was twice as crowded with stalls, the new vendors hawking everything from flower crowns made of wax ("And these won't wilt, either!") to glasses of iced German beer ("Imported straight from Corona!") to even baby livestock ("He came straight out of a prizewinner, he did").

The crowds of Arendelle's citizens were even merrier than at Yuletide. The men laughing uproariously and planting kisses on the cheeks of pretty girls, the women chattering happily and spinning to show off their new dresses, the children running off triumphantly with cakes and sweetmeats in hand. A country band had already started to play a love song, and a pack of young couples began to dance to it.

Even Aksel was infected by the cheer in the air. He tied his stallion to a post, and hummed along to the tune as he headed into the market.

"Don't tell me you enjoy this song, Aksel."

He turned, and immediately turned roughly the color of a radish with a sunburn. Eva was leaned up against a vegetable stall in a sky-blue dress embroidered with green leaf designs, a playful smirk on her face. Her blond hair tossed and bounced in the spring breeze.

"I mean really. You can't get much more corny and sentimental than this."

She threw her head back to sing, but Aksel cut her off:

_"We shall not sleep away from the smell of hay_

_and the singing of the grasshoppers in the fields_

_but wander together under the pale blue sky_

_till the birds lift their wings._

_And feel that we are of the same kin as the earth_

_with the wind and the white clouds,_

_and know that we shall be together_

_all the time till dawn."_

Eva canted her head to one side. "I didn't know you could sing like that."

"Neither did I," he admitted.

"Well, at least one of us can." She scooped up a bunch of carrots and began counting out the coins to pay for them. "I sound like a dying reindeer. Don't let my idiot brother hear me say that."

"Too late for that, sweet baby sister." Leif sauntered up to the both of them, grinning like a fox. He had a misshapen crown of wildflowers on his head, and a small suspicious bruise forming on the side of his neck. "I've heard you sing. You don't sound like a dying reindeer, you sound like a _herd_ of dying reindeer."

"Go stick it where the sun doesn't shine, Leif," she snapped.

"Agreed," Aksel said, walking up to the decidedly awkward-looking vegetable seller. "Don't you have a girl to roll in the grass with or something?"

"I do actually. But Birgitta can wait a moment, as my baby sister's love life is more important."

Eva and Aksel simultaneously turned rather attractive shades of vermillion and started spluttering indignantly.

Leif's smirk grew wider. He cocked his head to one side and pretended to listen.

"What's that I hear? 'Tis the sound of denial."

"That's the sound of music." Eva abruptly darted forward and grabbed Aksel by the hand. Her skin was rough, but warm. "Come on, Aksel. If you can pretend to dance for a few minutes, we might get away from this maniac."

"Gladly," he replied, trying to will his blush away.

They ran out towards the town square, ignoring Leif's yells for them to come back.

The two of them wove through the crowds and joined the dance. Aksel had never danced before, and Eva kept stepping hard on his feet, but the two of them got past their clumsiness. Soon they were spinning around the square -- still without any kind of skill, but with plenty of enthusiasm.

Aksel's brown eyes stayed locked with Eva's blue ones. Her brow was screwed up in concentration, and her tongue was poked out a bit.

"You can't be a worse dancer than me," he told her.

"Oh, don't suck up to me, Aksel." But she smiled anyway.

His heart seemed to soak in the warmth of the look she was giving him, even as he thought of how silly this was.

 

"I hate summer," Aksel declared.

He and Eva were sitting on the shore of the fjord, their shoes off and their bare feet dipped in the cool water. The gold ring of the sun rippled light across the sky; the heat seemed to hum in the air.

"You hate all forms of heat," she pointed out to him. "It's kind of stupid of you, actually."

"Well, summer's just _too_ bloody hot."

"Summer is hot? I never would've guessed."

He rolled his eyes at her. "You know what I mean."

"You mean that you hate good things. How perverse of you."

"Runs in the family." He paused. "But I don't hate _all_ good things."

She gave him a smirk. "Really? You don't like reindeer, warmth, chocolate--"

"Nobody I know besides you likes chocolate."

"According to a girl I know who works in the castle's kitchen, Queen Idun likes chocolate." Her smirk grew wider.

"Can I finish what I was going to say?" Aksel whined.

"You're only saying that because you know I'm _right._ "

Aksel groaned, and took a deep breath. "What I was _going_ to say was, I don't hate _you._ "

A little bit of Eva's expression softened. "Well, I don't hate you either. But I still don't like you."

"I knew you'd say that."

As they kissed, the heat of the sun suddenly didn't seem so bad after all. Missing a session of ice harvesting was certainly worth it.

 

Halvard gaped at his son incredulously. "You want to _what?"_

"Father, I told you. I'm twenty-five, I'm a grown man now. I want to get my own place to live now."

"Why would you do this to your own father?" Halvard jumped to his feet, his eyes blazing. "They don't let me work on the ice anymore, no matter what I tell 'em, because they say I'm too old. How'm I supposed to afford rent and food, hm?"

Aksel swallowed hard, but didn't budge. "I'll still send you some of my money from each sale I make."

"Why though?" Halvard came closer, eyes narrowed, and Aksel could smell the ale on his breath. "Why the sudden interest in moving out? You've been happy as a pig in mud living with me your whole life. I know something's changed in you, boy."

"I'm not a boy," Aksel snapped, beginning to lose his temper. "I'm a man. And I want to have my own place to live."

"I knew it!" Halvard snarled. "It's about that woman!"

"She has a _name!_ "

"How many times have I told you? Women are nothing but trouble! Buncha bitches with their tails between their legs. They're weak!"

Images passed through Aksel's mind: Eva rounding up and training wild reindeer in the middle of snowstorms, Eva lashing her whiplike tongue until strong men were slinking off from her, Eva cutting raw wood and leather into tools and saddles with her bare hands.

"If that's what you think about women, then you're a fool."

"Fine!" his father bellowed, waving his hands around his head. "Go! Marry your trollop. Turn your back on your family's entire lifestyle. See how the gods feel about a traitor to family!"

"They'll love me; because from now on the Bjorgmans are going to be better than _your_ idea of them," Aksel spat, grabbing his shoulder pack and pushing his way out the door. He hitched his stallion up to his sled and guided them away as best he could through the thick earth. He never saw Halvard again.

 

The wedding was a quiet affair in a country chapel. Only the Nordfjells turned up, and most of them were friendly, gentle Sami folk. Leif and Eva's parents welcomed their new son-in-law with embraces and a quart of _lutefisk._ Their uncle came in smelling like reindeer and profusely apologized for being late, even though it was only by a minute. Mrs. Nordfjell's ancient mother draped a blanket over Aksel's shoulders and gave him loud advice about his wedding night that nearly made Leif die laughing.

Eva wore the faded dress and jewelry that three generations of women in her family had used before her, and tucked a purple crocus behind one ear. Aksel borrowed his own wedding outfit from Mr. Nordfjell, and brushed his hair and trimmed his beard as best as he could.

Leif yelled, "I told you two so!" when they finished their vows, and Eva's parents started crying.

They all celebrated late into the night, before the whole family escorted them out to the little house where they'd be living.

"Good night! Goodbye! Good luck!" they shouted. The newlyweds watched the family dance off, the northern lights casting a glow over them.

Afterwards, they took their time, holding each other in bed and curiously running their hands over each others' bodies.

"Are you ready?" Aksel finally murmured to her, one hand gently fondling her breasts.

"I was going to ask you the same thing."

She pulled him down with her, and they made love for the first time with the sky awake over their heads.

 

"I'm telling you, we need a bigger fireplace," Eva insisted, one hand on the growing swell of her belly. "It's bloody freezing in here."

This was not an unfair statement. The winter solstice was upon them, and a vicious snowstorm was pounding down on their heads. No one in their right minds had left their homes except for Leif's new wife Birgitta, and that was only because the queen herself had gone into labor and needed all the midwives she could get. The wind howled at the door like a pack of wolves, and the snow piled in mountains outside.

Aksel glanced up from polishing his ice pick. Even when it wasn't harvesting season, he liked to keep his tools in good shape.

"It's not that cold."

"Oh, I forgot." With considerably less of her usual fluidity, Eva hefted herself to her feet. "You think that a goddamn blizzard is the equivalent to a lovely vacation in the middle of summer. Because, you know, you love to let your wife and unborn child freeze to death."

"You're in a wonderful mood," Aksel grumbled. "I think the baby must be kicking you in the heart."

"Hysterical." She yanked the pick out of his hands and put it back on the wall. Then she squatted down in front of the fireplace and poked the remaining embers, mumbling and shivering.

Aksel sighed. He really didn't understand when she complained of the cold. Even with the blizzard shrieking at their door, the winter didn't seem like it was coming inside that much. Did it?

He walked over and sat down next to his wife. The meager heat of the embers wafted up and grazed his cheek.

"Eva, what's wrong?"

"Besides the cold?"

"Yeah, besides the cold."

She carefully shifted herself, and stirred the fireplace a little more.

"You were going on longer and longer ice harvesting trips in the fall, and now that the season's over, you're basically ignoring me. I understand that your job's important to you. My family's job is important to me too. But for Freya's sake Aksel, it's not just _me_ you need to worry about anymore."

She was right. Aksel slumped back as he remembered the fall; he and Eva had spent a lot of time together in the summer, and a lot of the men had made fun of him for it. So, determined to get back in his old groove, he had disappeared into the mountains and valleys for sometimes a month on end, hefting enormous amounts of ice down into Arendelle. It had been strangely easy to get back to his solitude on the iced-over lakes and glaciers, and he'd sometimes gone as far as to forget to come home.

When winter had come and the season ended, all he'd done was work more. He buffed up the house and sled more times than he could count as the snow kept falling around him, exercised his stallion by riding him around the cold mountains, kept taking his tools to the local blacksmiths to make sure they were in perfect shape.

Coupled with the fact that Eva refused to stop reindeer herding with her family...when was the last time before today he and his wife had had time together?

Aksel wrapped his arms around her shoulders, and she slumped back against his chest.

"Okay," he told her. "What do you want me to do?"

She craned her neck back to look at him. "Balance your time a little better."

In response, he nuzzled her hair and gently kissed her. "Alright. For both us and our son."

"How do you it's going to be a son?" she demanded, her old fire coming into her eyes. "It could very well be a daughter."

"I'm just pretty sure it's going to be a son."

"Isn't it supposed to be the mother who knows about the sex of her child?"

Aksel couldn't help laughing. "Alright then. What do you think it's going to be?"

Eva thought about it for a moment, one hand clasped against the swell of her belly. "A son."

Aksel reached down and let his hand fall on top of hers. "I can't wait to meet him."

The winter storm continued to howl outside.

 

"No Kristoff!" Leif was yelling, running after the enthusiastic baby. "Not those bottles! Those are our aphrodisiacs!"

"He's a little young to be told that," Birgitta pointed out, looking up from sorting her birthing tools and medicines.

"And those things don't even work," Aksel added, watching the scene and thoroughly enjoying himself. Whenever his brother-and-sister-in-law came over to visit or vice versa, it always ended up being Leif who chased after Kristoff.

Speaking of the baby, he promptly stuck one of the bottles in his mouth, looking extremely unimpressed with his uncle's protests. Then he made a face and smashed it against the floor.

"Aksel!" Leif whined. "Get your brat under control!"

Aksel decided that he'd let his brother-in-law suffer long enough.

"Alright Kristoff," he said, scooping his son up off the floor. "Time for your nap."

Kristoff responded to his father by starting to drool all over his shirt.

Birgitta sighed happily as Aksel came back from the baby's room. "Aren't children delightful? I'm so proud to have helped to birth Kristoff."

"Yes, delightful," Leif grumbled, picking shards of glass off the floor. "Birgitta love, how do you feel about investing in pregnancy-controlling herbs?"

Eva took that moment to come back inside with her hair wet from the summer rain and her boots caked with mud. "Leif you imbecile, it was just Sigurd. He was trying to rut with the cows out of season again."

"This is why I don't like reindeer," Aksel declared, and immediately was glared at by everyone else in the room. "What? They act so ridiculous."

"That's why most people _like_ them."

"Do I look like 'most people' to you?"

Eva rolled her eyes at her husband and started wringing out her hair.

"By the way," she added, looking over at Aksel, "when I was in the market this morning, I heard the other ice harvesters say that they're leaving on their next trip tomorrow."

Aksel shrugged. "I know. I'm not going on that trip."

Every other jaw in the room fell open. "I made a huge amount of money selling ice from my last trip, and I'd like a rest. Besides, Kristoff's being even more fussy than usual lately. I figure he needs both of his parents watching him."

"Does that mean I won't have to?" Leif asked hopefully. Birgitta rolled her eyes at him.

When she realized people would be looking at her, Eva's expression of shocked delight was swiftly replaced by her usual proud gaze. "In that case, you can be the one to change his diapers for the next week."

"Fantastic."

"You see love," Leif muttered to Birgitta when he thought his sister and brother-in-law weren't listening, "this is why I don't want children."

 

"--and that's what we do for jobs."

Kristoff gazed wide-eyed up at his parents. "That's so cool! So when can I learn to ride reindeers and chop ice?"

"When you're a little older," Aksel told his son fondly, ruffling his blond hair. "But now, you need to go to bed."

"Aww! Mama, do I have to?"

"Yes, you do. Nice try though," she told him, scooping him up. "Tomorrow, your papa and I are taking you into Arendelle when we go shopping, so you need your rest."

"I'm not tired," Kristoff protested, stifling a yawn with one fist. "Mama? Papa?"

"Yes?"

"If we go to Arendelle, will we see the princesses?"

"Maybe."

He made a face. "Ick. I don't wanna see the princesses. Princesses are stinky."

Aksel laughed. "Smart boy."

"Definitely bedtime," Eva declared. Then she looked at her husband. "For you too."

"Yes, Eva."

After Kristoff went to sleep, the couple climbed into their own bed, a candle burning steadily on their nightstand. Aksel wrapped his arms around his wife, and she moved in closer to him.

"Think Kristoff is up to the long journey tomorrow?"

"Of course," she scoffed. "He's _our_ son, isn't he? He's a strong boy. I have faith in him."

"Very well." Aksel kissed Eva goodnight, reveling in the warmth of their little bedroom.

"Night." She shut her eyes.

"Goodnight."

In their sleep, one of them accidentally kicked the nightstand, jostling the candle onto the floor. The flame hit the rug, and within a minute, the bedroom was full of thick smoke.

Kristoff woke up first in a daze, with the strong stink of smoke in his nostrils and wondering why his parents were cooking breakfast so early in their bedroom. Coughing, he poked his head curiously into their bedroom and was greeted with a wall of fire. He screamed in terror, which woke both of his parents up.

For a moment, all Aksel could do was stare at the fire and choking smoke in complete shock. It couldn't end this way. He'd barely started really living his life...he had a wife and child to take care of. He locked eyes with his petrified son on the other side of the fire.

"Kristoff!" he roared. "Get out of here! Get out of the house!"

Tears started welling up in Kristoff's eyes. "But Papa...Mama...you promised you'd take me to Arendelle."

"Kristoff!" Eva shouted. Aksel and Kristoff both jumped. "Get OUT! Find your uncle and auntie. Just get out of this house, gods help me!"

"Don't worry about us!" Aksel yelled, clutching Eva by the shoulders as they both choked on the smoke.

Kristoff finally turned around and ran for the door, leaving the burning house for the cold night.

 

Kristoff went out into the reindeer herd with Uncle Leif. Ever since his parents had died and his house had burned down a year ago, he'd been living with him and Auntie Birgitta. It was okay, he guessed. At least he got to be with the reindeers all the time. But Uncle Leif didn't know much about kids, and he still missed his mama and papa.

Being eight, Kristoff did know what death was. But it didn't stop him wishing every day that somehow he could have his parents back again.

At least his auntie and uncle tried, though.

"Hey Kristoff!" Uncle Leif suddenly called. "You said you want to go with the big ice harvesters tonight?" Since his sister had died, he had gotten his leg caught under a sled and was no longer able to harvest ice. This didn't stop him from encouraging his nephew though.

"Yeah...?"

"I found the perfect someone to go with you!"

Kristoff walked over warily, sure he was going to see one of Uncle Leif's weird friends. Instead, he saw a reindeer calf playing around excitedly, romping in the grass and braying with joy.

"Oh!" Kristoff ran over and hugged the baby reindeer. A long pink tongue licked him in the face. "Hi! Your mouth tickles!"

"You can borrow him whenever you want to go out harvesting," Uncle Leif explained, a smile growing across his face. "You can even give him a name."

"Okay then! I know the perfect name for you." Kristoff took the reindeer calf by the shoulders and looked at him solemnly. "From now on, your name is Sven. You got it?"

Sven sneezed, which Kristoff took to mean yes.

"Great!" He looked up at Uncle Leif. "Will his mama mind that I'm taking him out?"

Uncle Leif's smile faded. "He uh...doesn't have a mama anymore."

"Oh." Kristoff looked at Sven with new eyes. "That's okay. I don't either. Or a papa. But I can be your mama, if you want."

Sven licked him again.

"Really? Well, first things first: your bedtime is the same as mine, and you and I are going ice harvesting tonight, so we need to find a sled!"

The boy and the reindeer ran off, missing the uncharacteristically sad look on their uncle's face. It didn't take them long to find a sled and the small pick and set of tongs Auntie Birgitta had bought him. By the time the big ice harvesters arrived (looking kind of grumpy), Kristoff and Sven were all ready to go.

"Bye!" he yelled, as he and Sven headed off after the grown men. "See you guys tonight!"

But ice harvesting proved much harder than Kristoff had expected. First of all, after hours and hours he only managed to get one chunk of ice. Second of all, even though his papa and uncle had been part of them, the big ice harvesters ignored him the whole time.

Not to mention, they got lost on the way back.

"Sven," Kristoff cried, as they moved through the woods, "I'm scared."

Sven whined in agreement. The trees were taller than the biggest of the men, and everything was dark and shadowy. They'd been following the older harvesters before, but with the ice loading Sven down, they'd been slowed too much.

Kristoff swallowed hard and tried to be brave. "C'mon buddy," he said. "Let's try going this way--"

There was a sound of whinnying and hoofbeats, and a pair of groomed white chargers galloped towards them.

"Horses?"

A long stretch of frozen ground was extending past one of the horses, the one that had the man with the crown -- he had to be the king! -- and the girl maybe as old as him with white hair riding it.

"Ice?" Kristoff breathed. "Sven, we gotta check this out!"

Abandoning the sled, the boy and reindeer rode after the horses as fast as they could, before they came across a rocky valley with clouds of steam coming out of the ground. The king, a pretty lady who had to be the queen, and the couple of girls with them who had to be the princesses all came into the middle of the valley.

Kristoff and Sven crouched behind a boulder and watched the royal family. Was the king talking to someone? Wait...what were those rocks doing?

"Trolls?" Kristoff gasped. His parents had told him stories about them when he was younger, but _seeing_ them? That was so cool!

Suddenly, the boulder they'd been hiding behind turned into a lady troll.

"Shush!" she whispered. "I'm trying to listen!" Then she looked back and forth at the two of them. "Cuties. I'm gonna keep you!"

"Um..." Kristoff was a little surprised. "Does that mean you can be my mama?"

"Of course I can be your mama, dear," she said gently. "If you're out here all alone, you must not have one anymore."

"I don't," he mumbled. "Sven doesn't either."

"Well, then I'll certainly be your mama! Welcome home, dear. Now please shush. I'd like to hear this."

Kristoff obeyed, eyes wide with happiness, completely ignoring the royal family. Now that he had a troll family and his own reindeer...who needed people anymore?

 

Kristoff hefted another chunk of ice out of the frozen lake, relaxing to the sound of scraping and clanging. To him, the sounds of the ice were the best kind of music, and it was one that he got to listen to on a regular basis.

It was good weather for harvesting too. Spring was upon them (in fact, Kristoff had just had his eighteenth birthday) and it was warm enough to be out and about, but cool enough that the ice was plenty thick and strong.

"Pick up the pace, Bjorgman!" one of the other men bellowed at him. "My wife could harvest ice faster than you, and she's eight months pregnant!"

"Yeah, but with whose child?" hollered another man. Crude, raucous laughter carried over the melodic clang of the harvest.

Kristoff gritted his teeth and hefted more ice out of the lake. No matter how many threatened black eyes or death glares he could give the other men, they could never shut up for more than five seconds. Was it so bad to want a little peace and quiet occasionally?

"Speaking of which, you not into any of the local girls, Bjorgman?"

He didn't answer.

"Talk a little louder, we didn't hear you."

"No," he snapped. "I'm not interested in any women."

"Really? Cause I have the feeling that a little tumble in the grass would cure you of your awful attitude."

"Not. Interested," Kristoff snarled, his mood growing worse by the second. Why couldn't they just leave him alone?

"How much money do you usually make?"

"And I am _not_ wasting my salary in a cheap brothel! Go _away!_ "

It seemed like an eternity before he was finally done harvesting and selling, and he and Sven could finally go home.

"I'm telling you, people are awful," Kristoff told his reindeer as they approached the valley.

 _"Well, you never give anyone a chance,"_ Sven replied in the voice Kristoff gave him.

"That's because every time that I did, they let me down." He raised his voice. "Everybody, I'm home!"

"Kristoff's home!"

Immediately, his family all rolled out from their various hiding places and started yelling their greetings at him.

"Look! Look! I got a crystal before Amethyst!"

"I finally ate a bug! Gave me awful indigestion."

"Kristoff, mind lifting me up and shaking me? Got something stuck up my--"

He quickly obliged.

"Where's my baby boy?"

Bulda jostled several other trolls out of the way, and immediately started inspecting him.

"Ma -- ouch --"

"Have you been bickering with the other ice harvesters again?" she said sternly.

"They were being irritating. I don't want to interact with any other humans, let alone women."

"Oh Kristoff," Bulda sighed. "Why do you hate your own people so much?"

"They're stinky?" offered one young troll.

"Kind of," he said, heading off to the cave where he lived. Sven trotted along after him with moss and crystals draped over his antlers. Kristoff threw his supplies on his bed and sat on the floor. The cave was lined with geodes that constantly sparkled purple, and Kristoff's own meager belongings were strewn on the floor. The bed was basically a rough frame covered with furs. Sven came inside too and collapsed next to his friend, strewing pieces of moss on the floor.

Kristoff rubbed his reindeer's ears and smiled. "You're better than any people any day, buddy."

Sven whined at him.

 

Kristoff couldn't remember the last time he'd been so despaired and frustrated. Within a few hours, he'd had his ice business ruined, been literally thrown out of a shop and completely humiliated, and now nearly everything he owned was burning at the bottom of a cliff.

Not to mention he was stuck for gods-only-knew-how-long with a crazy princess who didn't understand the meaning of _privacy._

"And so where do you live?"

"Do you really sell _ice_ for a living? How does that work?"

"How long have you had Sven?"

"Did you actually see my sister?"

"Why won't you answer my questions?"

The stars came out and lit up the cold black night. Normally in July, the night sky would've been a more benevolent shade of dark blue and would've darkened much later, but with the snow and ice on the ground, it actually felt like midwinter.

 _Does Queen Elsa have power over the climate itself?_ he wondered. The idea put him in awe.

Sven snapped him out of his daydreams by grunting loudly and head-butting him in the arm.

"What is it buddy?"

Sven jerked his head to the side where Princess Anna was walking. Kristoff rolled his eyes, and reluctantly turned to look at her.

She had her cloak tightly drawn around herself, and her teeth were chattering. But her head was held up high, and her turquoise eyes were bright with determination.

_She must really want to find her sister._

Impulsively, he asked, "Are you cold?" Then he mentally slapped himself for trying to talk to her again.

The princess, however, jumped at the opportunity to be able to speak again.

"A little," she admitted. "But wow. It's so pretty out here at night." She craned her neck back to look at the stars. "I haven't been outside the castle walls in forever, and in Arendelle, the lights make the sky look dimmer. It looks super awesome out in the mountains! But it's cold. It's very cold. Is it usually like this?"

"Not in July." Kristoff looked up to the snowy peaks of the North Mountain. "Well, obviously. But in the winter, yeah."

The princess shivered. "Remind me next time to bring more warm clothing. I _really_ hate the cold."

"Poor you." He couldn't keep the lack of sympathy out of his voice for the pampered princess.

In return, she gave him a heated look. "Just because you love the winter doesn't mean you have to be rude to everyone who doesn't."

She gathered her cloak more tightly around her shoulders and marched doggedly through the snow until she was ahead of him.

Kristoff shook his head and walked on after her.

 

He couldn't help it. He knew that she'd told him to wait outside, but the castle was the most beautiful thing that he'd ever seen. Besides, Olaf had already gone inside, and he was running up and down the flawlessly made staircase, squealing and giggling with glee.

But Kristoff simply stood at the center of the main room, admiring the castle. To him, it was too beautiful to touch, or even get near, with its smooth shining walls, its frozen water fountain, the glittering snowflake embossed on the ceiling. It must have taken a lot of skill to create, he thought, and was struck by a feeling of empathy for Queen Elsa. Here was someone who could appreciate winter just as much as him.

From upstairs, there was a scream, and a ragged blast of wind coupled with a painful _crack!_

Olaf stopped trying to climb on the banister. "I think Elsa and Anna are having a nice time, don't you?"

"Anna?" Kristoff called.

No answer.

He ran up the stairs as fast as he could, and into the throne room. " _Anna!_ "

She was crouched on the ground, shaking, with one hand clasped over her heart. For the first time, a surge of protectiveness for this crazy woman crashed through him.

He helped her to her feet. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright," Anna told him. "I'm _fine._ "

Kristoff looked around, and saw Queen Elsa for the first time. Her looks were as flawless as her ice; all shining silvery hair, glacier-blue eyes, a slender body with pale, pale skin. She was wearing a skimpy dress that seemed to be made out of some sort of ice-material, and another time the craftsmanship might've captured Kristoff's attention.

But now he looked into her eyes, and all he saw was terror. The powerful queen of ice and snow was scared and lonely and miserable; and Kristoff, who normally couldn't read people at all, was shocked to realize how well he already understood this woman.

 _Because she and I are both winter people,_ he realized.

"Who's this?" Queen Elsa asked. Then she shook her head, the walls of her castle cracking painfully. "It-it doesn't matter." She pulled farther away from her sister. "You have to go."

Anna protested, and Kristoff held her close, still watching Queen Elsa. She was just as beautiful as he'd expected, but he'd also expected to love her on sight. Instead, all he could feel for her was sorrow. She clearly loved her sister; but for some reason felt like she had to push Anna away.

Kristoff felt a painful and grounding sense of familiarity.

 

Two young people walked back to the castle of Arendelle in a daze of happiness. The giggles and whispers of the citizens rolled all around them; but for once, neither of the two was bothered by it.

Anna's cheeks were flushed, and Kristoff imagined he looked much the same way. He couldn't believe what he'd just done. Kissing the princess! In public! A small smile crept over his face; just a week ago, he would never have kissed _anyone,_ much less in front of a whole kingdom.

As they arrived at the gates, the first thing Kristoff noticed was that they were still open. The second thing that he noticed was that Queen Elsa stood right in his and Anna's path, talking to a pair of guards.

"Is there, uh...a side way in?" he muttered to Anna.

"Oh relax, Kristoff. You're going to have to face my sister eventually."

She grabbed his wrist and marched forward unabashedly, while he let himself get pulled along.

"--and your pay every month will be -- oh hello, you two. I was just briefing Joseff and Johannes here about their new job." The queen turned to the guards. "Could you hang on a moment? I think there's something my sister and Mr. Bjorgman need to talk to me about."

She neatly spun away from the guards and faced Kristoff and Anna, her face open and her bare fingers laced together in front of her. "Did you two kiss?" she asked frankly.

"Yes!" Anna said enthusiastically.

Kristoff started choking on his own tongue.

One of the guards whispered something to the other.

The queen -- Anna's sister -- nodded like they were talking about the weather. "I thought you might."

"You're not...upset?" Kristoff asked nervously.

Queen Elsa blinked. "Upset? No. Proceeding carefully? Yes. Mr. Bjorgman, if you want to be in a romantic relationship with my sister, there are a few things you need to understand."

Anna sighed. "You're not going to give him the if-he-breaks-my-heart-you'll-kill-him speech, are you?"

Her sister shrugged. "No. The last man who did that is probably headed for just prison, or cleaning horse stables or something. Besides, I have a feeling that if he broke your heart, you could kill him yourself."

All three of them laughed.

"But what you need to understand is this: I want you to know who my sister is and what she needs and wants before you get into this. And I want you to treat her like she deserves."

Kristoff looked at Anna. Her turquoise eyes were blazing with hope and joy. How could anyone have wanted to put that out?

He leaned down and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes.

"I will," he said simply, still looking at Anna.

The fire in her eyes grew brighter.

"Also, one more thing," the queen added, dabbing her eyes with her knuckles. "If you two plan to get engaged, please don't do it for a long time."

"Yes, ma'am," Kristoff grinned.

"Oh, come on you two. That was one time; will you let it go?" Anna griped.

A strange look passed over Queen Elsa's face, before she smiled and rolled her eyes. Kristoff laughed, and wrapped Anna up in an embrace.

 

The sound of heavy footsteps echoed on the wooden floor. Unlike what the castle occupants had learned to get used to lately, this was only one pair of feet clumping on the stairwell.

"Kristoff, I am not an invalid. I can _walk,_ for God's sake."

"You have got to be kidding me. Five minutes ago, you were complaining about your swollen ankles again."

"Fine. But I still wanna slide down the banister. It's faster than walking."

"Even I know that that's a _really_ bad idea for you."

Elsa appeared at the bottom of the staircase. She was wearing a pale purple dress and looked as excited as a schoolgirl.

"Kristoff, Anna," she called up to them. "The midwife's here -- what are you two doing?"

His wife scowled at him. " _Somebody_ here seems to think that I can't walk on my own."

"Oh, will you make up your damn mind?"

"My damn mind is already made up, and it says 'put Anna down, because she is not a housecat!'"

"Excuse me. I hate to interrupt the married-couple bickering session, but I don't think that the midwife wants to be kept waiting."

Kristoff groaned loudly, but he set Anna down on the next step anyway. She staggered a moment, clutching the banister while she regained her balance. He watched her while she did: even with her swollen belly and the scowl on her face, she was still beautiful. Her cheeks were flushed pink, her red dress tailored even more carefully than usual. Her eyes were bright with emotion.

She caught his eye, and her expression softened. On the rest of the way down the stairs, she let him hold her hand so she didn't lose her balance.

Elsa led the two of them through the now-familiar maze that was the castle, and into the hospital wing. Physician Bergman was having an argument with a middle-aged woman with long, straight brown hair clutching a medical bag.

"Excuse me, _ma'am,_ " the physician sniffed, "but I highly doubt that women in labor would appreciate having their stomachs sliced open."

"But if we could use laughing gas as a painkiller--" The woman was arguing back, and her voice sounded strangely familiar to Kristoff. "--then we could later have a surgeon stitch the woman's belly back up, and she wouldn't remember any pain at all."

"Out of the question."

"Mrs. Nordfjell," Elsa interjected. "My sister is here--"

"Nordfjell?" Kristoff interrupted. "That's her name?"

The woman -- the midwife -- turned to face the royal family. She had a kind, open face, with steady dark eyes and a few wrinkles around them. Several streaks of gray lined her oak-brown hair.

It had been much younger when Kristoff had last seen it, but he still knew that face.

"Auntie Birgitta?" he gasped.

Birgitta Nordfjell frowned for a moment, before her jaw dropped open in shock.

"Kristoff? I -- the prince consort -- you were Aksel and Eva's little boy all along?"

"You know her?" Anna asked her husband.

"Yeah." He swallowed hard, blinking back tears. "She's my aunt."

Birgitta dropped her bag on the floor and hugged her nephew. She was about two feet shorter than him, but was still strong enough to knock him backwards.

"Is she allowed to do that?" Kristoff heard one of the physician's assistants ask.

Anna and Elsa walked forward, clearly not sure what to do. Birgitta saw them and backed up, looking embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, your majesties. I'm being unprofessional."

"It's okay." Anna came up and put a hand on the older woman's shoulder. "Any family of my husband's is family to me."

Birgitta blinked in surprise before smiling faintly at the young princess. "Did you know that I helped his mother in her own labor? He was redder than a beet and squealed like a stuck pig for half an hour after he was born."

Anna laughed, Elsa hid a smile, and Kristoff buried his face in his hands.

"Maybe we should start the examinations now?" he muttered.

"Yes, good idea."

Anna and her family were guided over to a more private corner of the hospital, where Birgitta began her inspection of the princess. She began asking her about her diet, how physically active she was, what symptoms had been showing up and when, if she'd been pregnant before, where she could feel the baby move.

Anna answered every single question with confidence and assurance, and Birgitta was satisfied.

"You remind me of your mother," she said offhandedly as she felt Anna's belly.

"You birthed us too?" Elsa asked in surprise.

"You were both pretty easy, even if Your Majesty _was_ born in the middle of a blizzard. Her late Majesty -- may the gods keep her soul -- was just as happy and confidant as Your Highness with her first child."

As the women chatted, Kristoff made his way to the hospital wing's nearest balcony. It was a cold night in late November, and his breath came out in clouds. He gazed down at the lights of the city and the frosted peaks of the mountains, thinking about all the times when he'd seen this view in reverse.

After a few minutes, Birgitta came out to join him. "Your wife wants to know if you want to hear your baby's heartbeat."

Kristoff didn't look at her. "What did you and Leif do, when I left?"

She sighed. "We searched the whole area together. Leif got some of the other ice men that he knew to help us, but it was like you had disappeared. Of course, everyone knew when the princess randomly started courting an ice harvester, but we never would have thought that it was you." She paused, looking down at the lights coming from the houses. "I'm not going to ask where you were, or what you were doing. And I know that Leif and I were no replacement for your real parents."

"I still miss them," he confessed. "I have two new families now, and I was only a kid, but...I miss them. What were they like?"

"Aksel was a lot like you, in most ways. And Eva was quite a bit like Princess Anna." Here she cracked a smile. "They look almost nothing alike, though. You really love the princess, don't you?"

"Yes."

Smiling, Birgitta put a hand on her nephew's shoulder. Startled, he turned to look at her.

"The warmth of love is a gift."

"Yeah. Especially in winter."

They were quiet for a few moments.

"Do you and Leif want me to come visit sometime?"

"I think I speak for both of us when I say that that's a great idea."

More quiet.

"Maybe we should go in now. I think Anna's going to be getting impatient."

"KRISTOFF BJORGMAN!"

They dashed inside the warm hospital wing, the matronly woman and the huge man both looking distinctly like scolded children.

Elsa had a hand clapped over her mouth to stop herself from laughing, and Anna was scowling at them over the curve of her belly.

"Well? Do you have anything to say for yourself?"

"I'm a despicable bastard?"

Elsa decided not to stop herself.

"That works," Anna declared.

"Sorry, Your Highness." Birgitta picked up her bag again and rifled around inside it for a few moments. She brought out a small object shaped like a miniature trumpet and handed it to Kristoff. "Hold it up to your ear like this. And put it...here." She touched a spot on the lower curve of Anna's belly.

Very carefully, he did as he was told. Anna's body heat radiated out to warm him; and as he listened, a tiny, swift beat sounded under his ear alongside his wife's.

Hot tears sprang to Kristoff's eyes, and he didn't bother wiping them away. Elsa watched spellbound, and Anna reached out one hand to hold his.

"We've got a long life ahead of us," he whispered. He lifted his head again. "How do you keep them warm during a birth in the winter?"

"The same way we did for the queen. Queens. We build up a fire."

"And that doesn't hurt them?" "If they're strong, no. I'm pretty sure--" Here a bit of an amused note had come into her voice "--that Her Highness is strong. Look at who she has with her."

Kristoff did so. She had her sister on one side and him on the other. Elsa was cradling her sister's head in her arms, and both of them were grinning like children. Anna looked up at her husband and her grin only grew wider.

"Good luck." Birgitta shouldered her bag and grabbed her cloak. "I'll see you soon."

Elsa handed the older woman a handful of coins, and Birgitta made her way off. Physician Bergman looked happy to see her go.

Kristoff helped Anna to her feet. "Let's go to bed and get warmed up."

"Ooh yes."

"Ugh." Elsa made a face. "In that case, I'll be in my own room with earplugs in."

"Elsa, you're disgusting. Kristoff just meant that he'd be building up a fire, right Kristoff?"

"She can interpret it that way if she wants."

The little family made their way out of the hospital wing and headed off to their respective rooms. No sooner had the door clicked shut when husband and wife started kissing ferociously.

Kristoff laid back on their bed as Anna kissed him, admiring her. Her braids were already beginning to come undone, and she was struggling valiantly to undo her dress.

"Goddamn women's clothing--"

"Here."

In a gesture that stemmed from much, much practice, he began deftly unlacing her stays, allowing the dress to fall around her ribcage.

Anna turned her head to look at him, smiling. "You know how much I love you, right?"

He reached one hand up and caressed her cheek. She leaned her head into his palm. "I love you too."

Even as the first of winter's snow began to fall, nobody in the castle had or would complain of the cold.

As for the Bjorgman family, their fascination with ice never left them. But it was no longer their life.

 

\--Fin--


End file.
